Samsung Galaxy S3 confirmed for 2012 release date

Samsung has confirmed that it will be releasing a follow-up to this year’s Samsung Galaxy S2 in 2012. The device will be known as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and will no doubt feature Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich at its core.

The news comes via Dow Jones Newswires who reports that J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's mobile communications division, has said that ‘Samsung may launch a third version of its Galaxy S smartphone in the first half of next year after launching a second-generation version called Galaxy S II last month.’

Of course, Samsung will be keen to build on the success created by its massively successful Galaxy S2 handset, which launched in the UK a few weeks ago.

We tested the Galaxy S2 about a month ago now, giving it 4.5 out of 5, and thoroughly enjoyed using the device. In fact, we’d go as far as saying that it is by far and away the best Android handset currently on the market.

But that’s not all Samsung is working on. According to Shin: ‘The race for 4G (fourth-generation) has already started.’

He added: ‘4G transition is inevitable particularly for tablets because it requires faster download speeds than smartphones to handle bigger volume content.’

So, looks like we can expect to see some 4G-enabled Galaxy Tab devices as well.

So far, Samsung has sold about 1.3 million units of its Samsung Galaxy S2 device and despite some reports about some tinting issues with the handset’s display, these sales figures show no signs of slowing down.

Indeed, many publications gave the handset five out of five – something that doesn’t happen very often. But what can we expect from the Galaxy S3? At present, no one really knows – although a quad-core processor and Android Ice Cream Sandwich are extremely likely.

More news as we get it.